Comments on the improvements of the new ABSCH website (deadline 21 April 2016)
Mr. Matthew DIAS,
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity#7760
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity#7760
hace 10 años
Dear members of the Informal Advisory Committee (IAC),
Following the technical advice provided during the meeting of the IAC last October, and the online discussions held until 15 January 2016 we have been working on a number of issues to improve the performance and functionalities of the ABS Clearing-House (ABS-CH) as well as to incorporate the technical advice provided in a new version of the website. We welcome your comments on this new version at your earliest convenience and no later than 21 April 2016. Please provide your comments through the IAC forum (https://training-absch.cbd.int/forums) or by email (absch@cbd.int). Any comments received by email will also be posted in the forum.
After this date, we will work on finalizing testing and releasing the new version on the public ABS Clearing-House website in time for a training and side-event on the ABS-CH to be held at the margins of the meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation. With these latest improvements we hope to stabilize the layout and functionality and shift some of our focus to other important issues such as translation and capacity-building, and populating the ABS Clearing-House.
We would like to take this opportunity to provide a summary of the main improvements and changes made to the ABS-CH. Please note that a detailed report on the progress made in the implementation and operation of the ABS-CH will be provided in the documentation for the next meeting of the IAC.
In order to make this version of the ABS Clearing-House available to you for comments we have setup a new publicly accessible development website (DEV). The DEV website is located at: https://absch.cbddev.xyz. Although we have tried to replicate most services used on the production environment (PROD), due to some technical limitations certain services have not been completely replicated and will cause inconsistencies and other issues when using the DEV website. These limitations are summarized in a section below.
Summary of main changes and improvements
Overall speed and performance of the ABSCH
Improved speed and efficiency in loading: A number of changes have been made to improve speed and efficiency of the ABSCH, in particular to ensure better functioning for users with slower internet connections.
Responsive design: Pages have been made more responsive to help display information more efficiently on all screen sizes and devices (e.g. phone, tablets).
Browser support: Functionality that was only available to users with the newest browsers has been changed, removed or updated to support all common modern browsers (IE 9+, chrome, firefox).
Improvements in design
General design: Following various comments from the IAC, we have made several changes in terms of design, including: reducing the spacing between records; improving the display of the record overview in the home page; changing the colour of links to indicate when they are clickable; enhancing distinction between different record categories.
Map: We have included an improved map to visualize country information on the homepage and country profile pages. This map has been integrated as a separate library and will be used and maintained for all CBD websites.
Country profiles: We also enhanced accessibility and display of country profiles by creating a new page for each country profile that includes a link to CBD country profile as advised.
Visual integration with the CHM and other CBD websites and branding: Many of the changes to the layout, branding elements and navigation of the submit page have been done to ensure consistency in the user experience across CBD websites and browsers.
Search functions
Major changes have been made to update the search page. We have improved the layout and introduced several changes making it faster and improving the indexing and sorting for displaying results more efficiently and across platforms. In the coming months the ABS-CH and all CBD websites will be moving to a new more powerful search service. This service will provide a more intelligent way of mapping information behind the scenes. One key feature that will be interesting for ABS-CH users is the ability to also index text and keywords from inside attachments such as PDF and Word documents.
As the backend search service improves, the new search layout is not expected to change much with the exception of the improved search results. With the new layout we are moving towards a simpler way of searching that focusses more on users keywords (like google) rather than a list of predefined keyword filters.
The layout of the search page has been updated to allow for searches across national, reference and SCBD record categories simultaneously. Search results are displayed in separate tabs in order to allow cross category searching while maintaining visual distinction between records categories. Other specific suggestions such as removing contact details from record metadata for PA and NAU and to create a separate category for SCBD records have been also implemented.
Integration with the CHM and website
We have worked on integrating functionalities, branding elements and services for all clearing-house platforms (login, maps, user notifications, language services, shared controlled vocabularies, API) and those elements have been extracted from the ABS-CH and placed into common and shared code library for all CHM and CBD websites. This will help ensure that all CBD websites share a common look and feel and deliver a consistent user experience.
One major change is the Unified user notifications system for all clearing-house platforms (CBD CHM, BCH, ABS-CH). This feature is accessible in the submit page as “Requests and notifications” as well as by clicking a small bell icon in the top navigation next to your name when you are signed in.
The notification system has been developed with a view to help keep the data in the ABSCH updated. This page will provide users with important feedback and allow them to follow up on the status of their records. Notifications are triggered by important system and user driven events that happen in the clearing-houses, such as: new publication requests, approval of a request, recalled or canceled requests, rejected requests, reminders and alerts. For example, we have setup a notification to remind PAs, on a regular interval, when they have outstanding publishing requests. We will also send notifications to PAs to alert them when records such as ABS measures change status when, for example, they enter into force or are about to be retired. The notification system also provides a backup for the ABSCH’s automated emails, since we cannot guarantee the automated emails are received or read because of spam filters and other common email problems. This notification system can also provide PAs with, on a regular interval (e.g. a monthly), an aggregated report of the important activities, reminders and statistics that have occurred during that period.
Common formats and submitting information
We have implemented the technical guidance provided in the common formats with the exception of the endorsement function in relation to Model Contractual Clauses, Codes of Conduct, Guidelines, Best Practices and/or Standard and Community Protocols and Procedures and Customary Laws. When implementing this feature we faced a number of outstanding questions that need further clarification before it can be implemented. Therefore, we have decided that this aspect should be further discussed and taken up in the next IAC meeting.
As further explained below, changes in the thematic areas list and indexing of records for the search function will not be visible due to limitations with the DEV environment. However, these changes will be reflected in the common formats, search filters and the metadata provided in the summary of the records displayed in the search.
Another issue we have addressed is the way records are versioned and referenced in other records. We have implemented a record versioning system to help track records that are referenced in other records. We are now in the process of developing tools to help manage updates and deletes of referenced records. This change is mostly invisible to the user but is most noticeable in the way contacts are now used and referenced in the system.
Other new feature include:
Online designation of PA and NAUs: The User Management function allows designating and making changes to PAs and NAU directly online.
Possibility to report on records: This feature allows users of the ABS-CH to report to the SCBD problems with existing record with a view to keep the ABS-CH up-to-date and correct. Examples of problems are when a record is considered incorrect or inappropriate, when there is a broken link or outdated information, or if there is a copyright infringement.
Help and capacity-building
Real-time chat help desk: Since the recent changes to the ABSCH have been so many, and in order to provide immediate support, we have installed a real-time chat application for users to ask for help for problems they experience. The help desk service is available online for direct messages during SCBD office hours. After office hours users can use a form to submit their questions by email to the help desk.
About the ABS-CH: We have created a new About us section and updated and expanded the information on the ABS-CH (we will update information for this page in the following days). We are currently working on updating and improving the list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Help pop ups: Help is identified with a “(i)” icon that provides information on keywords. This helps users to navigate the website without having the visual display becoming cluttered with a lot of explanatory information.
Limitations of the development website:
The following are some limitations of the DEV website to be taken into account when reviewing the DEV website:
1. DEV doesn’t support indexing at this stage. We are using the PROD indexers as a work around for now. This will cause inconsistencies in the display data in published records.
2. DEV does not not have a complete copy of the thesaurus service that provides information of the thematic areas and keywords. This will cause inconsistencies in thematic areas list and keywords in the submit forms and as well as when searching for published records. We have set up a temporary thesaurus service to accommodate only the major changes related to the ABS measures in order to view the display of the measures matrix (overview of measures).
3. The DEV workflow service and website server is much slower than the PROD environment. This causes the process of publishing records to take 30 seconds or longer to traverse the workflow. Normally, on the PROD website this happens instantly. On the DEV website, when publishing, you may notice a record change status from draft to request to and then finally to published. Please give at least 1 or 2 mins after publishing a record before looking for it in the system.
4. DEV does not have its own set of security certificates. On both PROD and DEV website we use secure encryption to transmit data between the servers and your browser. However we haven't setup an official security certificate for the DEV website. Therefore, in order to be able to use the DEV website you will need to make a security exception in your browser for the following websites: https://api.cbddev.xyz, https://accounts.cbddev.xyz and for https://absch.cbddev.xyz. For more information on how to do this please see instructions below.
5. Changes to the DEV website have not yet been tested in all browsers. This is the last set of testing we do before going live. Therefore we recommend using Google Chrome browser, if possible, when viewing the DEV website.
6. In general the speed of the DEV website is much slower than the PROD website. Please note that some pages may therefore take longer to load than usual.
7. Finally, please note that DEV website is a test and development website that gets updated regularly as we improve the system. These frequent updates may cause the website site to crash or become unstable, information may be changed or lost without warning.
Instructions for view the development website
The issues with the certificates have been fixed. To view the development site please go to: https://absch.cbddev.xyz
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us (absch@cbd.int) or test out our new help desk service by clicking the green question mark (?) icon located on the bottom right side of the website.
Thank you in advance for your continued collaboration. We are looking forward to your feedback,
Matt
Matthew Dias
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Information Management Officer
Nagoya Protocol Division
email: matthew.dias@cbd.int
tel: +1 514 287 6682
skype: matt.dias
------------------------------------------------------------
Following the technical advice provided during the meeting of the IAC last October, and the online discussions held until 15 January 2016 we have been working on a number of issues to improve the performance and functionalities of the ABS Clearing-House (ABS-CH) as well as to incorporate the technical advice provided in a new version of the website. We welcome your comments on this new version at your earliest convenience and no later than 21 April 2016. Please provide your comments through the IAC forum (https://training-absch.cbd.int/forums) or by email (absch@cbd.int). Any comments received by email will also be posted in the forum.
After this date, we will work on finalizing testing and releasing the new version on the public ABS Clearing-House website in time for a training and side-event on the ABS-CH to be held at the margins of the meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Implementation. With these latest improvements we hope to stabilize the layout and functionality and shift some of our focus to other important issues such as translation and capacity-building, and populating the ABS Clearing-House.
We would like to take this opportunity to provide a summary of the main improvements and changes made to the ABS-CH. Please note that a detailed report on the progress made in the implementation and operation of the ABS-CH will be provided in the documentation for the next meeting of the IAC.
In order to make this version of the ABS Clearing-House available to you for comments we have setup a new publicly accessible development website (DEV). The DEV website is located at: https://absch.cbddev.xyz. Although we have tried to replicate most services used on the production environment (PROD), due to some technical limitations certain services have not been completely replicated and will cause inconsistencies and other issues when using the DEV website. These limitations are summarized in a section below.
Summary of main changes and improvements
Overall speed and performance of the ABSCH
Improved speed and efficiency in loading: A number of changes have been made to improve speed and efficiency of the ABSCH, in particular to ensure better functioning for users with slower internet connections.
Responsive design: Pages have been made more responsive to help display information more efficiently on all screen sizes and devices (e.g. phone, tablets).
Browser support: Functionality that was only available to users with the newest browsers has been changed, removed or updated to support all common modern browsers (IE 9+, chrome, firefox).
Improvements in design
General design: Following various comments from the IAC, we have made several changes in terms of design, including: reducing the spacing between records; improving the display of the record overview in the home page; changing the colour of links to indicate when they are clickable; enhancing distinction between different record categories.
Map: We have included an improved map to visualize country information on the homepage and country profile pages. This map has been integrated as a separate library and will be used and maintained for all CBD websites.
Country profiles: We also enhanced accessibility and display of country profiles by creating a new page for each country profile that includes a link to CBD country profile as advised.
Visual integration with the CHM and other CBD websites and branding: Many of the changes to the layout, branding elements and navigation of the submit page have been done to ensure consistency in the user experience across CBD websites and browsers.
Search functions
Major changes have been made to update the search page. We have improved the layout and introduced several changes making it faster and improving the indexing and sorting for displaying results more efficiently and across platforms. In the coming months the ABS-CH and all CBD websites will be moving to a new more powerful search service. This service will provide a more intelligent way of mapping information behind the scenes. One key feature that will be interesting for ABS-CH users is the ability to also index text and keywords from inside attachments such as PDF and Word documents.
As the backend search service improves, the new search layout is not expected to change much with the exception of the improved search results. With the new layout we are moving towards a simpler way of searching that focusses more on users keywords (like google) rather than a list of predefined keyword filters.
The layout of the search page has been updated to allow for searches across national, reference and SCBD record categories simultaneously. Search results are displayed in separate tabs in order to allow cross category searching while maintaining visual distinction between records categories. Other specific suggestions such as removing contact details from record metadata for PA and NAU and to create a separate category for SCBD records have been also implemented.
Integration with the CHM and website
We have worked on integrating functionalities, branding elements and services for all clearing-house platforms (login, maps, user notifications, language services, shared controlled vocabularies, API) and those elements have been extracted from the ABS-CH and placed into common and shared code library for all CHM and CBD websites. This will help ensure that all CBD websites share a common look and feel and deliver a consistent user experience.
One major change is the Unified user notifications system for all clearing-house platforms (CBD CHM, BCH, ABS-CH). This feature is accessible in the submit page as “Requests and notifications” as well as by clicking a small bell icon in the top navigation next to your name when you are signed in.
The notification system has been developed with a view to help keep the data in the ABSCH updated. This page will provide users with important feedback and allow them to follow up on the status of their records. Notifications are triggered by important system and user driven events that happen in the clearing-houses, such as: new publication requests, approval of a request, recalled or canceled requests, rejected requests, reminders and alerts. For example, we have setup a notification to remind PAs, on a regular interval, when they have outstanding publishing requests. We will also send notifications to PAs to alert them when records such as ABS measures change status when, for example, they enter into force or are about to be retired. The notification system also provides a backup for the ABSCH’s automated emails, since we cannot guarantee the automated emails are received or read because of spam filters and other common email problems. This notification system can also provide PAs with, on a regular interval (e.g. a monthly), an aggregated report of the important activities, reminders and statistics that have occurred during that period.
Common formats and submitting information
We have implemented the technical guidance provided in the common formats with the exception of the endorsement function in relation to Model Contractual Clauses, Codes of Conduct, Guidelines, Best Practices and/or Standard and Community Protocols and Procedures and Customary Laws. When implementing this feature we faced a number of outstanding questions that need further clarification before it can be implemented. Therefore, we have decided that this aspect should be further discussed and taken up in the next IAC meeting.
As further explained below, changes in the thematic areas list and indexing of records for the search function will not be visible due to limitations with the DEV environment. However, these changes will be reflected in the common formats, search filters and the metadata provided in the summary of the records displayed in the search.
Another issue we have addressed is the way records are versioned and referenced in other records. We have implemented a record versioning system to help track records that are referenced in other records. We are now in the process of developing tools to help manage updates and deletes of referenced records. This change is mostly invisible to the user but is most noticeable in the way contacts are now used and referenced in the system.
Other new feature include:
Online designation of PA and NAUs: The User Management function allows designating and making changes to PAs and NAU directly online.
Possibility to report on records: This feature allows users of the ABS-CH to report to the SCBD problems with existing record with a view to keep the ABS-CH up-to-date and correct. Examples of problems are when a record is considered incorrect or inappropriate, when there is a broken link or outdated information, or if there is a copyright infringement.
Help and capacity-building
Real-time chat help desk: Since the recent changes to the ABSCH have been so many, and in order to provide immediate support, we have installed a real-time chat application for users to ask for help for problems they experience. The help desk service is available online for direct messages during SCBD office hours. After office hours users can use a form to submit their questions by email to the help desk.
About the ABS-CH: We have created a new About us section and updated and expanded the information on the ABS-CH (we will update information for this page in the following days). We are currently working on updating and improving the list of Frequently Asked Questions.
Help pop ups: Help is identified with a “(i)” icon that provides information on keywords. This helps users to navigate the website without having the visual display becoming cluttered with a lot of explanatory information.
Limitations of the development website:
The following are some limitations of the DEV website to be taken into account when reviewing the DEV website:
1. DEV doesn’t support indexing at this stage. We are using the PROD indexers as a work around for now. This will cause inconsistencies in the display data in published records.
2. DEV does not not have a complete copy of the thesaurus service that provides information of the thematic areas and keywords. This will cause inconsistencies in thematic areas list and keywords in the submit forms and as well as when searching for published records. We have set up a temporary thesaurus service to accommodate only the major changes related to the ABS measures in order to view the display of the measures matrix (overview of measures).
3. The DEV workflow service and website server is much slower than the PROD environment. This causes the process of publishing records to take 30 seconds or longer to traverse the workflow. Normally, on the PROD website this happens instantly. On the DEV website, when publishing, you may notice a record change status from draft to request to and then finally to published. Please give at least 1 or 2 mins after publishing a record before looking for it in the system.
4. DEV does not have its own set of security certificates. On both PROD and DEV website we use secure encryption to transmit data between the servers and your browser. However we haven't setup an official security certificate for the DEV website. Therefore, in order to be able to use the DEV website you will need to make a security exception in your browser for the following websites: https://api.cbddev.xyz, https://accounts.cbddev.xyz and for https://absch.cbddev.xyz. For more information on how to do this please see instructions below.
5. Changes to the DEV website have not yet been tested in all browsers. This is the last set of testing we do before going live. Therefore we recommend using Google Chrome browser, if possible, when viewing the DEV website.
6. In general the speed of the DEV website is much slower than the PROD website. Please note that some pages may therefore take longer to load than usual.
7. Finally, please note that DEV website is a test and development website that gets updated regularly as we improve the system. These frequent updates may cause the website site to crash or become unstable, information may be changed or lost without warning.
Instructions for view the development website
The issues with the certificates have been fixed. To view the development site please go to: https://absch.cbddev.xyz
If you have any questions please feel free to contact us (absch@cbd.int) or test out our new help desk service by clicking the green question mark (?) icon located on the bottom right side of the website.
Thank you in advance for your continued collaboration. We are looking forward to your feedback,
Matt
Matthew Dias
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
Information Management Officer
Nagoya Protocol Division
email: matthew.dias@cbd.int
tel: +1 514 287 6682
skype: matt.dias
------------------------------------------------------------
Many thanks to you and the team for this work, Matt.
I'm afraid I have not had much time to test the new system, but from what I have been able to look at I think it is a big improvment.
I only looked at it on a recent Firefox, but the performance certainly seemed faster.
I was not able to use it on my i-Phone at all - not at all sure why, but the phone could not connect to the server. This may just be my phone at the time, so no conclusions can be drawn.
The hyperlinks within the screens seem much more consistent in behaviour and intuitivie, and I like the new display.
I also like the map and the key numbers on the home page - the map is easier to use than the last version, and the way in which country information comes up is good.
The search was better in the way it retrieved responses, although I have not tested more detailed searches.
I think that the way help information is hidden when completing a form is OK, but we might discuss whether it is possible to have the help button floating so it is aleays on the screen rather than fixed at the top. I have not had tome to complete any fo the forms, so cannot comment, although quickly testing some of the elements looks good.
The 'About us' section looks helpful.
The real-time help worked extremely well! Thanks Blaise.
Sorry not to provide more detail at this time, but overall very positive.
Best wishes
Chris
I'm afraid I have not had much time to test the new system, but from what I have been able to look at I think it is a big improvment.
I only looked at it on a recent Firefox, but the performance certainly seemed faster.
I was not able to use it on my i-Phone at all - not at all sure why, but the phone could not connect to the server. This may just be my phone at the time, so no conclusions can be drawn.
The hyperlinks within the screens seem much more consistent in behaviour and intuitivie, and I like the new display.
I also like the map and the key numbers on the home page - the map is easier to use than the last version, and the way in which country information comes up is good.
The search was better in the way it retrieved responses, although I have not tested more detailed searches.
I think that the way help information is hidden when completing a form is OK, but we might discuss whether it is possible to have the help button floating so it is aleays on the screen rather than fixed at the top. I have not had tome to complete any fo the forms, so cannot comment, although quickly testing some of the elements looks good.
The 'About us' section looks helpful.
The real-time help worked extremely well! Thanks Blaise.
Sorry not to provide more detail at this time, but overall very positive.
Best wishes
Chris
General comments
First of all, thank you very much and congratulations for the team for this work.
Even if I didn’t have all the time that I was wanted for test the new developments, seems to be a awesome improvement, looks nicer and is faster.
I like very much the home page (https://absch.cbddev.xyz/), the map and the numbers, also the statistics for the different type of records.
I’m agree with Christ in many of his comments, and I want to remark that the section “About the ABSCH” looks very helpful. Also for me the real time help worked very well.
Some specific comments
I’m using Chrome, so maybe one of my comments doesn’t apply or are valid if you use another browser.
Under the ABSCH development page
1. Under the national records, reference records and SCBD records:
1. a. The search filter is not working and is not very intuitive how to search. I like very much the display and the way that you present the options to filter, and also how the selected filters display in the upper window, but after this selection is not obvious if I have to click the search button or the filters activate just by clicking the options.
1. b. The search filter by keywords, seems to be that are still being too many options.
1. c. The search filter by country, I like the display in the upper part making the distinction between All, Parties, Non-Parties and Ratified not yet Party; but when you see the names of the countries because the background is grey, is not easy to distinguish between the purple color for Parties from the black color for Non-Parties, maybe you just can change the colors with other more contrasting between them (I know that the colors are linked with the map), or I suggest to use bold type for formatting.
Now at 21:30 Mexico time, all the filters are working perfectly (good!!)
Under the ABSCH Record Management Center
I try to request publication of my records that is a virtually library, I have some problems with the review. The review mark that my document has the following error:
Field mandatory/ absKeyAreas
And if I try to go to the error, is impossible to find it.
Submitting information
If I try to submit a “Permit or its equivalent constituting an internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC)”, the format say that “If no mutually agreed terms (MAT) have been established, this record cannot be published in the ABS Clearing-House and, therefore, an internationally recognized certificate of compliance cannot be issued.”; but as I already mention in past meetings, in Mexico we will have a simplified regime for the access with scientific and non-commercial purposes and this type of regime the establishment of MAT will not be mandatory.
I’m agree with Alicja that we will not be open a discussion about the establishment of MATs in the IRCC and in the Protocol, but is under the national legislation how to regulate the access, and also to establish a special considerations for non commercial access. In the next meeting I’ll raise the issue and maybe we could find some solutions.
I already save my record and when I saved I saw that in the general information said: Mexico and after that is marked as a Non-Party (Matt, could you please check the record?)
---------------------------
Action required
I get an email from the ABSCH asking for a validation a new record prior to its publication.
When I went to the dashboard I didn’t find the record or the request. The only request that I find is one regarding with a permit or its equivalent constituting and internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC). When I click in the status, I can’t do anything.
First of all, thank you very much and congratulations for the team for this work.
Even if I didn’t have all the time that I was wanted for test the new developments, seems to be a awesome improvement, looks nicer and is faster.
I like very much the home page (https://absch.cbddev.xyz/), the map and the numbers, also the statistics for the different type of records.
I’m agree with Christ in many of his comments, and I want to remark that the section “About the ABSCH” looks very helpful. Also for me the real time help worked very well.
Some specific comments
I’m using Chrome, so maybe one of my comments doesn’t apply or are valid if you use another browser.
Under the ABSCH development page
1. Under the national records, reference records and SCBD records:
1. a. The search filter is not working and is not very intuitive how to search. I like very much the display and the way that you present the options to filter, and also how the selected filters display in the upper window, but after this selection is not obvious if I have to click the search button or the filters activate just by clicking the options.
1. b. The search filter by keywords, seems to be that are still being too many options.
1. c. The search filter by country, I like the display in the upper part making the distinction between All, Parties, Non-Parties and Ratified not yet Party; but when you see the names of the countries because the background is grey, is not easy to distinguish between the purple color for Parties from the black color for Non-Parties, maybe you just can change the colors with other more contrasting between them (I know that the colors are linked with the map), or I suggest to use bold type for formatting.
Now at 21:30 Mexico time, all the filters are working perfectly (good!!)
Under the ABSCH Record Management Center
I try to request publication of my records that is a virtually library, I have some problems with the review. The review mark that my document has the following error:
Field mandatory/ absKeyAreas
And if I try to go to the error, is impossible to find it.
Submitting information
If I try to submit a “Permit or its equivalent constituting an internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC)”, the format say that “If no mutually agreed terms (MAT) have been established, this record cannot be published in the ABS Clearing-House and, therefore, an internationally recognized certificate of compliance cannot be issued.”; but as I already mention in past meetings, in Mexico we will have a simplified regime for the access with scientific and non-commercial purposes and this type of regime the establishment of MAT will not be mandatory.
I’m agree with Alicja that we will not be open a discussion about the establishment of MATs in the IRCC and in the Protocol, but is under the national legislation how to regulate the access, and also to establish a special considerations for non commercial access. In the next meeting I’ll raise the issue and maybe we could find some solutions.
I already save my record and when I saved I saw that in the general information said: Mexico and after that is marked as a Non-Party (Matt, could you please check the record?)
---------------------------
Action required
I get an email from the ABSCH asking for a validation a new record prior to its publication.
When I went to the dashboard I didn’t find the record or the request. The only request that I find is one regarding with a permit or its equivalent constituting and internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC). When I click in the status, I can’t do anything.
General comments
First of all, thank you very much and congratulations for the team for this work.
Even if I didn’t have all the time that I was wanted for test the new developments, seems to be a awesome improvement, looks nicer and is faster.
I like very much the home page (https://absch.cbddev.xyz/), the map and the numbers, also the statistics for the different type of records.
I’m agree with Christ in many of his comments, and I want to remark that the section “About the ABSCH” looks very helpful. Also for me the real time help worked very well.
Some specific comments
I’m using Chrome, so maybe one of my comments doesn’t apply or are valid if you use another browser.
Under the ABSCH development page
1. Under the national records, reference records and SCBD records:
1. a. The search filter is not working and is not very intuitive how to search. I like very much the display and the way that you present the options to filter, and also how the selected filters display in the upper window, but after this selection is not obvious if I have to click the search button or the filters activate just by clicking the options.
1. b. The search filter by keywords, seems to be that are still being too many options.
1. c. The search filter by country, I like the display in the upper part making the distinction between All, Parties, Non-Parties and Ratified not yet Party; but when you see the names of the countries because the background is grey, is not easy to distinguish between the purple color for Parties from the black color for Non-Parties, maybe you just can change the colors with other more contrasting between them (I know that the colors are linked with the map), or I suggest to use bold type for formatting.
Now at 21:30 Mexico time, all the filters are working perfectly (good!!)
Under the ABSCH Record Management Center
I try to request publication of my records that is a virtually library, I have some problems with the review. The review mark that my document has the following error:
Field mandatory/ absKeyAreas
And if I try to go to the error, is impossible to find it.
Submitting information
If I try to submit a “Permit or its equivalent constituting an internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC)”, the format say that “If no mutually agreed terms (MAT) have been established, this record cannot be published in the ABS Clearing-House and, therefore, an internationally recognized certificate of compliance cannot be issued.”; but as I already mention in past meetings, in Mexico we will have a simplified regime for the access with scientific and non-commercial purposes and this type of regime the establishment of MAT will not be mandatory.
I’m agree with Alicja that we will not be open a discussion about the establishment of MATs in the IRCC and in the Protocol, but is under the national legislation how to regulate the access, and also to establish a special considerations for non commercial access. In the next meeting I’ll raise the issue and maybe we could find some solutions.
I already save my record and when I saved I saw that in the general information said: Mexico and after that is marked as a Non-Party (Matt, could you please check the record?)
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Action required
I get an email from the ABSCH asking for a validation a new record prior to its publication.
When I went to the dashboard I didn’t find the record or the request. The only request that I find is one regarding with a permit or its equivalent constituting and internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC). When I click in the status, I can’t do anything.
First of all, thank you very much and congratulations for the team for this work.
Even if I didn’t have all the time that I was wanted for test the new developments, seems to be a awesome improvement, looks nicer and is faster.
I like very much the home page (https://absch.cbddev.xyz/), the map and the numbers, also the statistics for the different type of records.
I’m agree with Christ in many of his comments, and I want to remark that the section “About the ABSCH” looks very helpful. Also for me the real time help worked very well.
Some specific comments
I’m using Chrome, so maybe one of my comments doesn’t apply or are valid if you use another browser.
Under the ABSCH development page
1. Under the national records, reference records and SCBD records:
1. a. The search filter is not working and is not very intuitive how to search. I like very much the display and the way that you present the options to filter, and also how the selected filters display in the upper window, but after this selection is not obvious if I have to click the search button or the filters activate just by clicking the options.
1. b. The search filter by keywords, seems to be that are still being too many options.
1. c. The search filter by country, I like the display in the upper part making the distinction between All, Parties, Non-Parties and Ratified not yet Party; but when you see the names of the countries because the background is grey, is not easy to distinguish between the purple color for Parties from the black color for Non-Parties, maybe you just can change the colors with other more contrasting between them (I know that the colors are linked with the map), or I suggest to use bold type for formatting.
Now at 21:30 Mexico time, all the filters are working perfectly (good!!)
Under the ABSCH Record Management Center
I try to request publication of my records that is a virtually library, I have some problems with the review. The review mark that my document has the following error:
Field mandatory/ absKeyAreas
And if I try to go to the error, is impossible to find it.
Submitting information
If I try to submit a “Permit or its equivalent constituting an internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC)”, the format say that “If no mutually agreed terms (MAT) have been established, this record cannot be published in the ABS Clearing-House and, therefore, an internationally recognized certificate of compliance cannot be issued.”; but as I already mention in past meetings, in Mexico we will have a simplified regime for the access with scientific and non-commercial purposes and this type of regime the establishment of MAT will not be mandatory.
I’m agree with Alicja that we will not be open a discussion about the establishment of MATs in the IRCC and in the Protocol, but is under the national legislation how to regulate the access, and also to establish a special considerations for non commercial access. In the next meeting I’ll raise the issue and maybe we could find some solutions.
I already save my record and when I saved I saw that in the general information said: Mexico and after that is marked as a Non-Party (Matt, could you please check the record?)
---------------------------
Action required
I get an email from the ABSCH asking for a validation a new record prior to its publication.
When I went to the dashboard I didn’t find the record or the request. The only request that I find is one regarding with a permit or its equivalent constituting and internationally recognized certificate of compliance (IRCC). When I click in the status, I can’t do anything.
There is some problems with the file that I attached. Matt plkease tell me if you have problems with them. I attached the file beacuase I put some screens printings to ilustrate what I was saying.
Best wishes!
Elleli
Best wishes!
Elleli
Thank you very much for all your comments.
Sorry for the delay in the reply. We are just wrapping up the meetings of SBSTTA 20 and SBI 1 where we highlighted the updated ABSCH in a full day training event and side-event during SBI. I am happy to report that during those event a lot of positive feedback was received from Parties and others who were in attendance.
In addition to the meetings, we have been fixing many little issues and bugs that always come up with every new release and I am please report that things are finally stabilizing. We have also been doing some “house cleaning” cleaning up the programming code (removing old and redundant code) and once this is finished and we are more confident that things are running stably we will enable caching which should speed page loading times up even more.
For the next IAC we will provide a detailed report on progress and further details on all recent changes implemented. Thanks again for your feedback. Here are some responses to some of the issues you raised:
Screen responsive layout - The development site had an issue preventing it from working on an iPhone. The production website will work. There is still a few things we need do to refine the layout for small screen sizes. These adjustment are slowly moving up on our list of priorities and should be soon tested and released to the production website.
Search engine - As I mentioned earlier, we are working on implementing new search engine. This is for the ABSCH but also inline with the requirement for to well functioning global search for the CHM and CBD websites. The new search engine should be greatly improve the speed and way results are retrieved. We will also be indexing text within attached documents which could be very useful when searching for specific information. I will inform the IAC when the new search can be tested.
Search web page - We have made the country filters more bold and have limited the keywords to the ABSCH list of thematic areas. As we integrate the new search engine we will also further refine and improve the filters, especially for keywords.
Emails and publication requests from the training or dev website - Please note that depending on your ABSCH roles you may receive occasional emails from the training or development website. I am currently reviewing all emails that get automatically sent from the system, to improve the text and layout and also make it more clear when if they are coming from the production, training or dev websites. Please let us know if you would like to stop receiving emails for the development or training website and we will remove those roles from your account profiles.
Issuing an IRCC and without MAT established - During the next IAC meeting in June we will have a chance to examine in detail the IRCC and I suggest we revisit this issue then.
Virtual Library Records and key areas mandatory - The capacity building key area should only be mandatory when the main purpose is capacity-building related. If “reference or literature” is selected it is not mandatory. This bug has been fixed and will be corrected when the fix is deployed (later today).
Adding attachments to forum posts - We look into this issue. It has been listed and prioritized (again). Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks again for your feedback and all the positive comments. I understand the period for commenting was relatively short. Please note that, as always, we welcome additional feedback at anytime.
Sorry for the delay in the reply. We are just wrapping up the meetings of SBSTTA 20 and SBI 1 where we highlighted the updated ABSCH in a full day training event and side-event during SBI. I am happy to report that during those event a lot of positive feedback was received from Parties and others who were in attendance.
In addition to the meetings, we have been fixing many little issues and bugs that always come up with every new release and I am please report that things are finally stabilizing. We have also been doing some “house cleaning” cleaning up the programming code (removing old and redundant code) and once this is finished and we are more confident that things are running stably we will enable caching which should speed page loading times up even more.
For the next IAC we will provide a detailed report on progress and further details on all recent changes implemented. Thanks again for your feedback. Here are some responses to some of the issues you raised:
Screen responsive layout - The development site had an issue preventing it from working on an iPhone. The production website will work. There is still a few things we need do to refine the layout for small screen sizes. These adjustment are slowly moving up on our list of priorities and should be soon tested and released to the production website.
Search engine - As I mentioned earlier, we are working on implementing new search engine. This is for the ABSCH but also inline with the requirement for to well functioning global search for the CHM and CBD websites. The new search engine should be greatly improve the speed and way results are retrieved. We will also be indexing text within attached documents which could be very useful when searching for specific information. I will inform the IAC when the new search can be tested.
Search web page - We have made the country filters more bold and have limited the keywords to the ABSCH list of thematic areas. As we integrate the new search engine we will also further refine and improve the filters, especially for keywords.
Emails and publication requests from the training or dev website - Please note that depending on your ABSCH roles you may receive occasional emails from the training or development website. I am currently reviewing all emails that get automatically sent from the system, to improve the text and layout and also make it more clear when if they are coming from the production, training or dev websites. Please let us know if you would like to stop receiving emails for the development or training website and we will remove those roles from your account profiles.
Issuing an IRCC and without MAT established - During the next IAC meeting in June we will have a chance to examine in detail the IRCC and I suggest we revisit this issue then.
Virtual Library Records and key areas mandatory - The capacity building key area should only be mandatory when the main purpose is capacity-building related. If “reference or literature” is selected it is not mandatory. This bug has been fixed and will be corrected when the fix is deployed (later today).
Adding attachments to forum posts - We look into this issue. It has been listed and prioritized (again). Sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks again for your feedback and all the positive comments. I understand the period for commenting was relatively short. Please note that, as always, we welcome additional feedback at anytime.
